Researchers uncover interesting facts in a bid to eradicate bugs

Keeping bugs at bay in a hospital environment has always been a challenge, but Liverpool’s Ingham Institute is closer than ever to eradicating them once and for all.

Keeping bugs at bay in the hospital environment has always been a challenge, but Liverpool’s Ingham Institute is closer than ever to eradicating them once and for all.

And believe it or not, Kikkoman, who make soy sauce, have been able to provide them with a specific swab test that is uncovering the existence of biofilms, the environment where bugs live, thrive and multiply.

Professor Iain Gosbell, who is part of the institute’s antibiotics resistance and mobile elements group, said a biofilm was where bugs lived and would invite all their friends over for a party.

There are mixed species of bacteria and viruses. Some of the species are pathogenic to humans, like Golden Staph and enterococcus.

Ingham Institute's Professor Iain Gosbell who specialises in bacteria and super bugs.

“They’re quite elusive, but working out a way to find them means we can track them better,” he said.

“Biofilms are a problem in the manufacturing of food, so the technologies developed in this industry is being adapted in ours.”

The team is working on a way to get rid of the biofilms and through its research, has found they can survive in drought.

“Intermittent wetting gives them enough nutrients to survive. It’s like dunking Tim Tams in coffee,” Professor Gosbell said.

“And after days of no water, we dunk them again and lo and behold, they are still there.”

Biofilms are little homes created by the bugs, made of sugar and protein. They make these structures to protect themselves from harm. They’re well-formed — almost like honeycomb.

“They’re difficult to kill, so now we need to determine how to get rid of them.

“In our testing, we’ve used hypochlorite, a strong disinfectant like pool chlorine ... and while it makes them less numerous, it doesn’t kill them. We were amazed.

INGHAM INSTITUTE’S CANCER STUDY COULD BE SCRAPPED

MAKING MEDICAL HISTORY INSIDE AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST BUNKER

Cloth fibres with a biofilm containing a strain of golden staph.

Cloth fibres with a biofilm containing a strain of golden staph.

“We’re trying out other disinfectants with the company that supplies hospital disinfectant to the Australian market.”

Professor Gosbell said chemicals alone would not eradicate them and they needed to explore physical cleaning, heat and other notions.

It has taken four years to uncover this information and was helped a lot through an Australian Research Council linkage grant.

“At first the concept was quite out there, but then we found them and were able to grow them,” he said.

“We’ve got a commercial partner and are working with a team of chemists, scientists and managers at Whiteley Corporation to test different chemical compounds.

“The idea is to develop a chemical compound that attacks the sugars and proteins in biofilms. Once you dissolve that, bugs can be dealt with more easily.”

Professor Gosbell said bacteria had been a problem for humans with many horrible diseases caused, even with vaccination and engineering, they haven’t gone away. That was their next challenge.

“People are getting older, and getting sicker. Our technologies with medical treatment are very aggressive and they’re vulnerable to these kinds or organisms,” he said.

“The problem with bacteria is that there are some that are resistant to antibiotics. This is part of our quest to engineer out the bugs.

Inhgam Institute is located in Liverpool.

GOLDEN STAPH

■ A common bacterium that lives on the skin or in the nose

■ In most situations it is harmless

■ If it enters the body through a cut in the skin, it can cause a range of mild to severe infections, which may cause death in some cases

■ Carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. Two out of every 10 people carry it

■ The armpits (axilla), groin and under skin folds are other places golden staph likes to inhabit

■ Can be spread by skin contact or touching contaminated surfaces

■ Poor personal hygiene and not covering open wounds can lead to infection

■ Infections caused by golden staph: boils and abscesses, meningitis, osteomyelitis, pneumonia and septic phlebitis

ENTEROCOCCUS

■ Bacteria normally found in the faeces

■ Two types — Enterococcus fecalis and Enterococcus fecium — cause human disease, most commonly in the form of urinary tract and wound infections

■ Other infections, include endocarditis and meningitis

■ Colonises in open wounds and skin ulcers